"Sexual Violence Among Same-Sex Partners, Is the Problem Homosexuality? Minority Hate, Is This Okay?"

Repeated Sexual Violence Among Same-Sex Individuals... Surge of Hate Speech Against Minorities
Some Criticize "Blaming Minority Status as a Weakness Is Wrong"
Experts Say "Social Hate Denies Civil Rights of Social Minorities"
Human Rights Commission Conveys Opinion to National Assembly on Need for Anti-Discrimination Law

Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Gayeon] Recently, as incidents of same-sex sexual crimes have been repeatedly reported, hate speech against sexual minorities has continued, sparking controversy. In particular, there are many criticisms that this goes against efforts to curb the spread of hate, such as the enactment of anti-discrimination laws. While citizens raise their voices viewing it as criticism of the perpetrators, some argue that such condemnation itself can act as hate against other minorities and should be avoided.

Experts suggest that the widespread hate in society infringes on the civil rights of social minorities and urgently call for the enactment of related laws.

Recently, allegations surfaced that a high-ranking Korean diplomat, Mr. A, sexually harassed a local male employee while working at the Korean Embassy in New Zealand.

According to local media such as News Hub on the 25th, Mr. A is accused of sexually harassing the employee three times, including touching the employee's body parts at the end of 2017. Even after the victim raised the issue, it is reported that Mr. A harassed the employee in the elevator of the embassy building.

Mr. A reportedly admitted to physical contact but claimed there was no intent of sexual harassment. According to the local online media Stuff on the 29th, Mr. A denied the allegations, saying, "I am neither homosexual nor a sexual deviant. How could I sexually harass a white man stronger than me?"

Also, it was recently revealed that same-sex sexual violence occurred in a dormitory of a middle school located in Yeonggwang, Jeollanam-do.

According to the Yeonggwang Education Support Office's Yeonggwang School Violence Incident Response Headquarters, led by the education director, on the 29th, first-year middle school student Mr. B was sexually assaulted multiple times by classmates in the dormitory over eight days from June 10 to 17. Subsequently, Mr. B died on the 3rd from stress-induced acute pancreatitis.

A petition appealing for the punishment of a school peer sexual violence perpetrator was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board on the 16th / Photo by Blue House National Petition Board capture

As these facts were reported, hate speech against sexual minorities has poured out mainly on portal site comments and social media. Netizens continue to criticize with remarks such as "Isolating homosexuals prevents crime" and "Homosexuality is a sin."

The problem lies in that such criticism acts as hate against people with minority identities. While sexual violence perpetrators should be criticized and punished on their own, creating public opinion that blames specific minorities under this pretext can promote hate.

Therefore, some argue that the blame should not be directed at sexual minorities.

University student Mr. C (23) said, "Sexual violence should never happen, and perpetrators must be properly punished. However, I think it is problematic to casually utter hate speech against sexual minorities just because the perpetrator and victim are of the same sex."

Office worker Mr. D (31) also emphasized, "Regarding recent sexual harassment allegations against former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don and the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, no one says 'this is why heterosexuals are the problem.' I am not defending the crime or the perpetrator, but urging to stop hate against the entire minority."

Survey results show that the majority of the public recognize discrimination against minorities as a serious social problem and believe it should be improved.

According to the "2020 Public Perception Survey on Discrimination" conducted by Realmeter commissioned by the National Human Rights Commission in April, 82% of respondents answered that "discrimination in our society is serious." 93.3% of the public said discrimination is a social problem that requires active efforts to resolve.

In particular, 93.3% agreed with the perception that "all people are equal in dignity and rights," and 73.6% and 92.1% agreed respectively with items such as "sexual minorities are equal in dignity and rights like others" and "social consideration is needed for socially vulnerable groups such as women, disabled persons, children, and the elderly."

On the 30th, Professor Han Sang-hee of Konkuk University Law School held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office, urging the passage of the Anti-Discrimination Act and the enactment of the Equality Act proposed in the National Assembly. Photo by Yonhap News

Experts are raising their voices that the enactment of related laws is necessary to eradicate such hate speech as well as normalized hate and discrimination.

Oh Young-taek, an officer of the Hate and Discrimination Response Planning Team at the National Human Rights Commission, pointed out at a forum hosted by the Korea Internet Self-Governance Organization (KISO) on the 9th, "Hate speech denies human dignity and value, strengthens structural discrimination, distorts democracy, and hinders social integration, causing serious social problems. It is time to seek and apply practical solutions to online hate speech."

Professor Kim Sua of the Department of Communication and Information at Seoul National University also said, "In Korea, there is a perception that hate speech is not punishable unless prosecuted, and current legal regulations rely on insult and defamation laws. There is no law criminalizing hate speech, so regulatory legitimacy is not secured. The perception that regulation infringes on freedom of expression is widespread. Social hate denies the civil rights of social minorities. Therefore, it should be approached as an issue of how to supplement the constitutional concept of equality."

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission expressed the opinion on the 30th of last month to the National Assembly that the enactment of the "Act on Equality and Prohibition of Discrimination" (Anti-Discrimination Act) is necessary.

Professors and researchers specializing in law and human rights who support the enactment of the Anti-Discrimination Act held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Hall on the 30th, urging the enactment of the law. A total of 248 university professors and researchers participated in the support declaration.

They emphasized, "Discrimination is the most important human rights issue in modern society. To effectively address it, a basic legal system that comprehensively prohibits discrimination beyond individual grounds and areas of discrimination is necessary. Major countries around the world have enacted comprehensive anti-discrimination laws and established single discrimination remedy agencies. The Anti-Discrimination Act should include specific types of discriminatory acts, the responsibilities of the state and local governments for remedying discrimination, and measures to ensure the effectiveness of discrimination remedies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.